Telus - $425 outright with no contract or $49 with a two-year contract.

Bell / Virgin - $399 outright with no contract or as low as $49.99 with a two-year contract.

There is sure to be some pricing in-between with the tab offers and such that carriers offer but overall the pricing is as was expected with the exception of Telus. That extra $25 seems likely to turn people off a bit after you add in taxes and such. Also remember, if you fancy a red BlackBerry Q5 that's exclusively available only on Virgin Mobile.

It looks like being about the same as the cheap iPhone when that arrives. The people who complained about the price were comparing it to much lower spec machines with significant design faults - e.g GN4 with short battery life, no expansion, no 4G and fragile back.
A lot of people only seem to relate specification to screen size.

Why the difference in the out right price I wonder? I'm with Telus and wife and I both have Z10's but she wants a Q5 aswell. I guess I will just buy it from bell and unlock it and use it for Telus providing the unlocking it's expensive.

Still, it should be priced at max $300 off contract in my opinion. There are still a lot of decent phones under $300 and if BB wants to increase market share, they should price it cheap enough to entice students to buy before going back to school.

I think the Q5 is a good phone, in a very ugly body. I personally don't understand why they made such an expensive mid-range phone look so cheap. I hope it sells, but I really think it let's down the lineup when it comes to appearance. It should at least have been in shiny, less cheap-looking plastic. The red, etc. perhaps don't look as cheap, but the black honestly looks like a fake BlackBerry one might hypothetically buy from a flea market. Fingers crossed that I'm the only one that thinks that, and they will sell millions...

Hey, how about this: let's have manufacturers hand out phones for free!
We deserve free phones after all. We do nothing in terms of research and development, assembly, production of material, packaging, shipping, or marketing... BUT we DESERVE dirt cheap phone prices. Especially since we are looking for contract-free phones, so that the carriers who are paying BlackBerry for the phones know that we probably won't stay with them for long (because that's great for their business).

It's true. We deserve a powerful device, with a fantastic OS... but we deserve it for cheap. We deserve it because we will try it (and due to a cheap price we won't have any serious attachments to it), and in a couple of months, we will replace it: seriously, who wants to keep a cheap phone for very long, right?

But you know what? This reasonable price is still too high for my self-entitled a$$, so I won't be getting it.

A very perceptive post. The US carriers basically want free phones to hook people into contracts, and Joe Public doesn't see why things should not be 'free'.
That's why much of the innovation doesn't come to the US first any more.

BlackBerry is being a little greedy with their pricing strategy. We understand that they're trying to claw their way back up by showing profits. But I think they should bring the subscribers back BEFORE charging them up the b*tt. A mid range phone for $400. You gotta be kidding me. Androids and even windows phone have phones in the 100-200$ range and bbry has the nerve to come with a so called low end device with a price tag like this. Don't get me wrong I'm a big supporter of BlackBerry but I've seen them make so many mistakes that my mind is just starting to wander away from them. If it wasn't for the great keyboard and bbm (which will soon no longer be a reason for me to stick on) I would have switched years ago. Thankfully I have an iPhone as my 2nd line so that has kept me sane the last couple years.

Blackberry's (BBRY) strategy to compete against Android and Apple with a low end device with a price tag over $300 is pure madness-the manufacturing of these devices is an inevitable loss, considering the sale price.

And for your info, its a good strategy to allow a loss in an effort to get as many devices out as possible so that people can become more familiar with the OS(which is solid), which would turn profit in the future.

*ITS SHAREHOLDERS LIKE YOURSELF, THAT ARE HURTING THE COMPANY-you all lack patience and want instant gratification, this is why Blackberry is making so many irrational decisions, The shareholders are rushing the return , instead of allowing a strategy to be implemented**

A $100-$200 android phone is a piece of crap. Don't get caught up in the specs like everyone else. Technically this device has better overall specs than iphone 5, and iphone 5 is still selling at $699. Just cause it's not quad core doesn't mean $400 is bad for a dual core. Remember it has 2gb of ram, and it's LTE, better than N4 if you ask me. Regardless of the N4's GHz count.

How much $$$ did you pay for that low end (in terms of specs) iphone? The Q5 has a 328ppi screen, 2x the RAM as the iphone 5 with basically the same processor. It has LTE (ip4s and nexus 4 do not have this which makes a huge difference) plus microSD expansion, the battery is a beast. If Koodo can sell it for $350 (very reasonable for such high specs IMO) it must be the carriers charging more for the device not BB.

As noted the us has the z10 for 0 on a three year plan at best buy . I've seen 0.00 $79.99 and 99.00 on two or three year plans in Canada.
Also there are still many three year plans available in Canada. Please check on line. Please no need to apologize - we are all wrong from time to time.

Great timing for the device. With the 2 year contracts rolling out and the increase in contract prices for devices as well as the plans becoming ridiculously expensive, the wave is going to shift towards mid-range devices. And with the Q5, performance is similar enough to the Q10. The only downfall is the curve-like keyboard and how it's nowhere near as good as the bold-like keyboard of the Q10. People won't mind the body at all, especially when they throw a case on there. Looking forward to this phone selling quite well

Why will this we a teen phone?
No apps for teens
Bbm going cross platform
Let's wake this teen dream up because it's not happening. Now business and enterprise yeah I think it has the best shot. Teens don't care about blackberry let alone the q5.

I don't think that the blackberry will ever completely win over the teen/app-fanboy market, but if it can get a solid business/professional base, as well as offer fun and trendy stuff, I think that it will be able to stay in business and be a solid #3 in the smartphone market, which I think is what most of us BBRY owners want. BBRY in business = We still get new BBRY phones.

I think that the Q5 looks more than acceptable. Unfortunately I cannot speak on price so much since it is not available here in the U.S., but our phone prices have traditionally rolled into the 2-year contract price, with a 99$ or 199$ deposit for the phone. However, I think these will be a nice balance in price, especially with many carriers moving towards no-contract, or allowing for multiple upgrades within the contract time without significant penalty (paying full price). If it weren't for my common sense telling me that I didn't need a second or third phone, I would buy a Q10 and a Q5. I have high hopes for them. Like someone else said, once you throw a case on the Q5, it will look just fine. However, I hate the idea of putting a case on the Q5 or Q10, because it will be bulky and blocky instead of sleek and shiny.

Looks like BBRY is focusing Q5 launch in Canada for business customers first with its pricing and colour options (or the lack of). Not rolling out all the colours ( where is the pink Q5?) with a more teen/student friendly price at the start will get them another subdued launch reception. They may get higher margin but less sale, and by the time they reduce the price and roll out the other colours, there may not be much consumer interest any more as there's no buzz from the launch and people will think it's an unsuccessful product.

I just don't get it! This type of device may work in parts of the world where mobile phone costs are too expensive for typical household income, but in North America where money seems to grow on trees when it comes to teenagers and what the cool stuff is and what they want, this will not fly! IMHO of course! I've said it and so many others have said it in CB forums, you gotta have Candy Crush, Subway Surfers, and Minion, etc. If you don't have the cool apps, it's game over!! Look at the cost of iPhone 5 and SG4. You are looking at a couple of hundred bucks on a 3 year plan. But if you go to the mall or the movies, all I see are teenagers with iPhones and Samsung's. So making a cheap"er" device is great for Mommy and Daddy, but 'Conner' and 'Tiffany' just won't go for this! Sorry. But that's why I believe this won't make things any better. Even if you make Black, Red, Pink, and whatever other colour.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!! (The exclamation marks are for Servino who still believes I have bad grammar).

I mentioned in a previous post that I hope was passed forward to Kevin by a moderator to forward to anyone at BlackBerry that cares, that you need something different to stand out from everyone else. I made the suggestion of 'Free Content' Make some sort of alliance with Rogers or Ciniplex and get credits for free downloads. For example, you have a BlackBerry 10 device and you go to 3 movies at Ciniplex or you rent 3 movies from Rogers on Demand, and you receive 1 free download movie or game from BlackBerry World. Neither Apple or Google offer any free content to my knowledge. The logistics could be worked out I'm sure.

I believe if you offer teenagers free s*** they will be a little more enticed to want a BlackBerry.

If it worked for Mark Cuban and his Dallas Mavericks, it can work for Thorsten Heins and his Q5.

Considering how the launch went for the Z10 and Q10, if BlackBerry wants to do themselves a favour they will hire their own sales staff and strategically place them at Best Buy and Carrier locations and sell their own stuff! It's become painfully obvious that the D-bags that work at these locations aren't clever enough to be able to demo a BlackBerry product properly or prmote it! Oh wait......forgive me! I forgot about the unspoken rule of selling old stock first! Keep telling people that iPhone 5 is much better! And don't say this doesn't exist cause I've been told more than once by mobile sales staff that it does! I was once a victim of this practice.

You pay telus more because it's the special telus tax. Their network uses technology that's extra special, costs $25 bucks more for that extra specialness. Actually, that's not true at all, I'm making it all up. They're not special at all. They just like to charge more because they can choose to do that and not many people care for some reason.

"Hey, we can get an extra $25 for no real reason other than we can, so let's do it!" - d o u c h e

There's enough room for several mindful smartphone makers. Not sure why everybody thinks there is some kind of race to get to this superficial podium in one of only 3 available spots.

The smartphone market is global and the potential for growth in mobile computing, globally, is staggering to think about. It is only the most effective way for the world's people to be computing, communicating, and having fun on a single device. The world is huge and there are markets that have yet to be tapped. There are new markets just beginning to be tapped now. The mobile gluttony of apple and Samsung is not sustainable, but reasonable growth in a market that is only just starting out is sustainable.

The expectations of every company becoming an apple or a Samsung is just BS and complete fantasy. It's impossible.

What is possible is sustainable and reasonable growth for the long term. The potential for mobile / cognitive / wearable computing is at the foundation right now, just starting to grow and smartphone companies are at the ground level. The first step before we start living computing is now, with smartphones.

These markets I speak of would be doomed if there were only two or three makers.

There could be dozens of companies working to innovate in this industry. Not just 3.

I'm always going to support BlackBerry, but I also think it's very cool that Ubuntu Edge will be a new choice, also Jolla.

All devices will be able to use all applications and communicate on the same levels, but each will bring their own differentiation to the market. That's cool.

I dislike how people are so confused to believe that everybody should use android or ios, that is just downright ridiculous thinking.

I am bias about BlackBerry for sure, I admit that, I don't care. It's also cool that there are other companies making an effort to bring fresh new opportunities to the market, just like BlackBerry is doing with BlackBerry 10.

Does Sony make televisions that can only show broadcasts of say, Fox news? No, all channels work with all televisions based on your level of subscription.

The same should and will be true of "apps". Meaning, every app should and will eventually be available for every device. The makers of the devices have to come up with clever features with their OS and hardware, but apps are apps and there's really no reason they shouldn't be on all platforms.

We're in "app infancy" and it shows. People are just growing up with this now. The future could be so much better.

Mobile computing, nano science, quantum physics, all these things will converge into one agenda. A bunch of stuff I don't know a whole lot about, but I do think is really cool to imagine what it will be like. I think BlackBerry sees what things will be like now and also envisions a bright future and is doing the right things now to help shine light on that future.

Was in the UK briefly a couple of weeks ago and "borrowed" a colleague's Q5 for a couple of hours. Although it doesn't have the heft of the Q10 it still feels like a solidly made device with no creaking or groaning that I'd come to expect from latter Curves. Although I didn't get a chance to try everything, it didn't seem to play second fiddle to its more expensive kin in any department and the slower core never was a factor. As to pricing, I think $399 is fair, but in order to make an impact Koodo's $350 is far more attractive. Will be interesting to see how much WIND prices this at when they launch in a couple of weeks, with the exception of the Nexus 4 they've been pretty fair with their outright pricing.

This is a very good price. You can't compare the price of cheap Chinese made android phones to Blackberry phones. The android phones pay $0 for the OS and very little to build the phone. I will support Blackberry's higher prices so they can invest on OS improvements and good business practices. These prices are in Canada and in case none of you complainers noticed, BlackBerry 10 has done very well here. I know lots of people with Z10s (including myself) so this price for the q5 is right where it should be.

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